This coming Sunday is Trinity Sunday, the transition between Pentecost and Common Time in the liturgical year. The Trinity is a doctrine that has caused controversy for nearly two thousand years. As a preacher and a follower of the Jesus Way, I have been wrestling with this construct for decades, not as a puzzle to be solved, but as a claim about the character of God that keeps refusing to sit still in me. What we inherited In the early centuries of the church, there was a shared floor. The...

Last Sunday I offered an abbreviated version of my sermon. Several people asked for the long version and I thought I would share it here so everyone who wants can read the entire manuscript. Here are some questions to ponder after you read the sermon. What are the "lions" you hear prowling around you? Where does "exceptionalism" help or hinder you? How do you see the difference between "renovation" and "restoration" working in your life? How do you understand the four words in 1 Peter -...

On June 8, First Congregational Church UCC will host Reverend Dr. Alex Awad, a Palestinian Christian raised in Jerusalem who served 26 years as a United Methodist missionary and spent 21 of those years pastoring the East Jerusalem International Church. Rev. Dr. Elmarie Parker, former PCUSA Regional Liaison for Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, will interview him. Many of you heard Elmarie preach here in April. This talk is a long-planned event that supports both our national UCC commitment to Peace...